France is working towards fostering relations with Kenya in the development of maritime and blue economy, French Secretary for the Sea Hervé Berville said on Monday.
Berville, who is in Kenya for a two-day official visit, said there is strong room for cooperation on maritime affairs, protecting the ocean, and making sure that the coastal communities living in Kenya benefit from the development of the blue economy.
“We really want to accelerate to foster the relationship between France and Kenya. We want to ensure that we include this region and especially Mombasa in our conversation,” he said.
The 33-year-old, who during his studies came to Kenya for internship, said Kenya and France need to tackle the issues of climate change, loss of biodiversity and economic sovereignty.
“There is a discussion within ourselves to tackle the big issue of our time, climate change, loss of biodiversity, economic sovereignty, improving the life of the people,” Berville said.
He said Kenya can learn from French policies on how to protect the ocean and environment.
“Our policies are to ensure we really protect the environment of the biodiversity. At the same time, we want to develop the economy and make sure that the ocean and the sea is the way of sustaining and creating jobs,” Berville said.
In June 2025, France will host the United Nations Ocean Conference (UNOC 2025) in the city of Nice.
The French Secretary for the Sea said they also want to reduce the world’s dependency on fossil fuel and fully adopt renewable energy.
“Here in Kenya, you have such a strong percentage of your energy based on renewable energy and that's what we're trying to also do,” Berville said.
He was speaking at the SwahiliPot Hub in Mombasa where he met young people in innovation and technology sectors. He was accompanied by the French Ambassador Arnaud Suquet.
“We are really proud of what we call blue startup, the startup based on what we can discover on the sea,” he said.
SwahiliPot Hub founder Mahmoud Noor said Berville’s tour to Mombasa is significant and an inspiration to the majority of the Mombasa youth.
“He was in Kenya when he was only 19, and now he sits in one of the most powerful cabinets in the world. This is an inspiration to our youth who are here at SwahiliPot,” Noor said.